


Lessons Learned

by KurtsAnatomy (TheSwanOfWinterfell)



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Aromantic Bruce Banner, F/M, High School, High School AU, M/M, No Smut, OT6- Friendship, Steve is 18, Student Steve Rogers, Teacher Bucky Barnes, Teacher-Student Relationship, Warning For Underage Anyway
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-11
Updated: 2018-01-07
Packaged: 2018-05-01 02:26:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 8
Words: 20,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5188634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSwanOfWinterfell/pseuds/KurtsAnatomy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All Steve Rogers wants is a stress-free senior year full of memories he’ll take to college with him. Unfortunately, his new English Literature teacher, Mr. Barnes seems determined to make Steve think twice about everything in his life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Something About This Place

Steve Rogers had a love/hate relationship with the education system.

He liked learning things. He liked taking in knowledge, but not in a nerdy way. He enjoyed knowing that things he was absorbing were facts about the world.

That’s why Steve _despised_ Math.

He liked reading and he liked analysing what he read in order to understand it better. He often read books more than once in a short space of time to see what else he could glean from the language when he wasn’t asking questions about the plot.

He hated useless trivia or things that he would never need. Like Physics. He would never understand it and he never actually wanted to. That’s why scientists existed.

One of his best friends, Bruce, had an inherent interest in all things scientific and was no doubt going to advance in the field after they graduated. Steve would often demand that he have Bruce as a lab partner in Chemistry because he was hopeless at it.

He preferred English and learning foreign languages. He wasn’t trilingual for nothing. English, French and German all tucked away under his belt in case he needed to travel for anything.

Natasha and Tony were the tech experts. Tony liked tinkering with existing creations and making them even more advanced than they already were. Natasha was the one who came up with the innovative ideas that she and Tony would work on.

Clint was the historian of the group. He loved poring over large hardback books that Steve doubted he himself could even lift, never mind actually show an interest on. But Clint loved it. From the prehistory of the world to the Second World War, he was completely knowledgeable.

Thor was the true athlete of the group. Blessed with proficient sporting genetics, Thor entered practically every sporting event that their school actually held. He won most of them, only the gymnastics section letting him down for the complete set. Thor was agile yet clumsy at the same time and often tripped over his own feet…or a ribbon.

The six of them were inseparable, often transferring classes so that they were with one another. Tony never thought twice about sacrificing the standards of his education. He knew most of it already anyway. He was the most well-rounded of the bunch by a mile. He was the top of their class, closely followed by Bruce, Natasha and Clint in second, third and fourth place respectively. Steve was a little behind in eighth, but he saw this a huge accomplishment as his math grades were somewhat abysmal.

Despite his vehement aversion to studying, Thor made eleventh place.

The six were widely considered the smartest students in the school and the group managed to stay popular yet disliked at the same time. Their intelligence was feared and their hatred for the school was noticed.

One time in sophomore year, Tony made a speech about the defiant nature of adolescence and how he was going to boycott his classes until they taught him something worth his while. For whatever reason, a group of the jocks had labelled them ‘The Avengers’.

Nobody understood the name, but Natasha thought that it would make them seem deadly and fierce so they took it upon themselves to use the name as often as they saw fit, generally in front of people.

Tony was the truly rebellious one and (in his words!) had said that he wanted to “avenge the half of me that wants to be challenged after I lose the majority of my IQ points to this cesspool of an institution.” He had sneaked into the administrative offices after school had ended and changed the locker system so that ‘The Avengers’ had adjacent lockers. The other kids were confused but the teachers had fumbled through a half-hearted explanation, not actually sure of what went wrong in the first place.

So every day the six Avengers met by their lockers and discussed their plans for the day.

“I’m excited to try out this new English teacher,” Tony offered, “What? I need to see if he’s willing to roll with my delinquency.”

Steve sighed, rolling his eyes fondly. “I just hope this new teacher actually _teaches_ us something. Mr. Brown actually expected us to just read the book and know what we were talking about.”

“Some of us _do_ ,” Tony swaggered, exchanging his book for the day. Tony usually made notes in certain classes so that he could share them around with the group. Not that the others needed them, but in case they missed a class.

They really _clicked_ as a team and everybody knew it.

So it was no surprise when they were all mysteriously assigned to the same English Lit class.

Natasha smacked the back of Tony’s head playfully. “I hope the new guy’s nice to look at. I mean, Mr. Brown wasn’t exactly what anybody would call ‘attractive’.”

“Hey, that’s what we say about you,” Clint grinned and zipped behind Thor lithely to avoid a beating. Thor smirked down at Natasha.

“Sorry. I’ve been designated barrier for a while now. Clint requires my services.”

“Makes a change from him requiring Nat’s services,” Bruce quipped from the flank where he stood next to Tony. Tony bumped him happily. It was a fine day when Bruce Banner engaged with his bantering side. It was so rare. Tony had labelled him ‘The Other Guy’ for when Bruce had his moments of hilarity.

“Yes, The Other Guy’s out!” Tony cheered. “This is _such_ a good day.”

Natasha scoffed. “Remind me why I’m the only female in the group, again. Oh no, _wait_. I know that answer. It’s because the five of you are so disgustingly primordial that you repel estrogen. I guess I’m just immune to the toxicity.”

Thor guffawed and high-fived Natasha and Clint guessed that it was safe to emerge from Thor’s shadow.

“Well, Steven here doesn’t need you around for sexual banter. He has the five of us to joke about,” Tony said, clapping Steve on the shoulder. “Right buddy?”

Steve raised an eyebrow and looked to Natasha. “We could’ve picked a better looking bunch for our eye-candy.”

She smirked back at him. “You’re totally right. Now who should we have chosen instead? Oh, how about Sam Wilson? He is _fine_.”

Steve shrugged. “I don’t know, he’s a little immature.”

“Oh, come on,” Tony interrupted, “we four are the best looking guys in the school. Especially me, but who said this was a competition?”

Steve elbowed the boy in the arm and laughed. “Eh, you’re not too bad I guess.”

They turned into their English class and immediately commandeered the seats at the back. Natasha and Thor led, the two being the scariest of the group, and scared a slender boy to the second row. Steve, Clint and Bruce took the back row seats and Natasha, Thor and Tony took the seats in front of them. They decided not to stretch themselves out along the back row because it would be easier for them to talk to each other when the lesson got boring. Although Steve _actually_ wanted to learn something from this new guy, whoever he was.

Steve opened his notebook, pencil flitting across the page. It was no secret that Steve Rogers could draw. But he could _draw_. Like, really well. He sometimes drew candid images of his friends and Tony had framed one in particular that had “made my body look really good”. He was adding some more details of a sketch he had started of Clint standing by his locker when the boy leaned over to him.

“Damn, I look good even in drawings. Nice job, Steve.”

Steve looked up and smiled gratefully. His gaze was about to drop back to his sketch of Clint when a man entered the room, presumably the new teacher.

Steve gaped.

He was about six foot one, Steve guessed, and was broadly built, if only a little smaller than he was. He was brunette, his hair cropped, and his facial features stood out a mile away. Steve was entranced by him, the sharp jawline and the rugged stubble. His deep, cloudy blue eyes twinkled as he stood in the middle of the classroom.

He took off his jacket, placing it on the back of the chair that had been stationed at the desk, and smiled.

Oh, _fuck_.

Steve’s breath hitched as that smile hit him. He was vaguely aware of Natasha smirking at him, but he didn’t care. He only had eyes for the man in front of him.

His… _teacher_.

“Morning, everyone,” he began. “I’m Mr. Barnes, but I always ask my student to call me Bucky. Mr. Barnes makes me feel shrivelled and ancient.”

He elicited a laugh from the class and Steve shivered at the low timbre of his voice. It was like…delicious honey, floating around the room and lathering itself all over Steve’s heart. The noise shot straight through his spine and pooled in his groin. His cock twitched in his pants and he willed himself not to get hard. He couldn’t. Not for his teacher.

“Since I’m the new teacher and you all probably know each other by now, I want to try and get to know each and every one of you personally. I want you all to feel like you can come to me with any problems that you may have. Who knows, I might be able to help!”

Steve _swore_ that ‘Bucky’ looked directly at him as he said that.

“So,” Bucky continued, “I want you all to write a short paragraph about yourself. I don’t want the basic facts like your email addresses, we’re not _that_ close, but I want it to be more about you as a personality. What do you do in your spare time, what do you want to be when you grow up, that kind of stuff. So, I’ll give you fifteen minutes and I’ll read them after class. Make sure to write your names on them. I’m going to walk around, so you should introduce yourselves.”

Steve flipped over the page, tucking his sketch behind the cover, and tapped his pencil against the page.

“Write about myself,” Steve muttered to himself. It was easier said than done so he thought of some examples.

_I’m attracted to my English teacher._

_I like my English teacher’s eyes._

_I want my English teacher to bend me over his desk and—_

“Steve!” Clint threw his eraser at him and Steve blinked.

It turned out that Bucky was standing over his desk. “Well, it seems Clint here did the introduction for me. Steve, is it?”

Steve nodded, mouth dry. “Yes, s—Bucky. Steve Rogers.”

“Good to meet you, Steve.” And then Bucky moved on to the next student. Steve got a glimpse of Bucky’s ass, which looked incredibly squeezable and Steve just wanted to and reach out and—

“Dude, what’s the deal with you?” Tony said from in front of him.

Bruce laughed. “I’d say that Steve here saw something he likes. Maybe brunette and wearing a tie?”

Natasha smirked, but snorted. “Boys, leave Steve alone. Don’t you all have to find a way to write about yourselves that doesn’t make you sound like crass Neanderthals?”

Tony had simply written “I am a student in your class” on his piece of paper and labelled it “T. Stark.”

Thor shook his head. “Bucky’s gonna _love_ you, Tony.” The sarcasm was thick in the air.

Clint was busy creating a new slingshot for his erasers when Steve turned back to his paper, seeing that he had only written his name at the top. Putting pencil to paper, his hand skimmed across the page.

_I’m Steve Rogers. I enjoy classical literature and reading foreign translations of my favourite novels. English is probably my best subject. When I graduate I want to either write historical fiction or work for a publishing house._

Steve didn’t feel like that was enough, but he didn’t think that he was all that interesting. His mind lived in books, particularly ones set in the past. It was like he lived in the 1940’s in a past life or something.

As he struggled to think of more, Bucky called time on that particular exercise.

The rest of the class flew by, Bucky introduced the syllabus and important assignment and Steve hanging onto his every word. Bucky might have noticed.

The bell rang and everyone shot out of the room. Steve didn’t understand why most people were so eager to leave classrooms…it was likely that they had another class next. And only Bruce hurried to class. Well, most of the time. Not if it was Gym or Spanish.

The Avengers were the last to leave, always exiting classrooms as a group. They dropped off their introductory paragraphs on Bucky’s desk. Steve slid the paper towards the teacher and smiled warmly as he left.

Fleetingly, he could have sworn he saw Bucky Barnes _blush_.

 


	2. Second Glances

‘The Avengers’ often studied together.

Everybody had a strong suit and, when they came together, homework was simpler. They were all intelligent enough to do marvellously well without the efforts of their friends, but there was a philosophy in making things fun. Or at least that was what Tony had proclaimed that very evening. Steve sat, poring over the columns of Math problems when flashes of his English teacher wouldn’t leave him alone. He grunted slightly, catching the attention of the others.

“Steve? Is something bothering you? Is Tony being too arrogant today?” Bruce smiled.

Before Tony could protest that, Natasha smirked.

“Steve here is having daydreams about fucking Mr. Barnes.”

Steve rolled his eyes. Well, _now_ he was, no thanks to Natasha. “I am not thinking about _fucking_ anyone.” Lie. Complete lie.

“Oh, you _so_ are,” Tony teased.

Clint shrugged. “I’d do him.” He blinked as everyone stared at him. “You know, if I was into doing guys. Which I’m not. I can just appreciate a good-looking man.”

Thor grunted. “There is no shame in that, Clint. No need to explain yourself. Mr. Barnes is a good guy.”

Just the mere mention of his _name_ had Steve remembering that grin, those eyes, that _tie_ that was just waiting to pulled on. Those lips just waiting to be kissed in the middle of quoting Shakespeare.

“Dude, you’re thinking about him again, aren’t you?” Tony nudged him and Steve fell out of his stupor and brought himself back to the inquisitive group.

Steve was helpless. “Let’s not all forget that Tony tried to seduce the cleaning lady that one time and she rejected him.”

Everybody shared a small chuckle at that memory. Bruce’s lips quivered into a smirk. Steve just knew that the Other Guy was out.

“Ah, but Steve, you’re deflecting from the issue. Very poorly, I might add. That either means you’re lying or…well that’s it.”

“You can tell us, Steve. We won’t judge you. Clint already admitted it,” Natasha added.

Steve sighed. “I may be entertaining several unconscious thoughts about our English teacher.” Steve planned to end it there, but his mind and mouth had other, very annoying, ideas. “You can’t pretend like he’s not gorgeous, I mean you all _saw_ him right? And how laidback he is as a teacher, how he wants to use a _nickname_ , how you can tell that he loves what he does and doesn’t apologise for it and—I said _way_ too much, didn’t I?”

Clint smirked. “I think you said just enough to provide us with enough teasing material for the rest of the year. Man, I can’t _wait_ for English class tomorrow.”

“We’ll keep your secret, Stevie boy,” Tony winked.

Steve scoffed. “Please. You guys are going to make it _so_ obvious! When have any of you ever shown subtlety in your lives? You’re going to coo and do all that other stuff when he walks into the classroom. I know you are.”

Natasha grinned. “It’s very fun, Steve. You’re just so easy to rile up.”

Thor sighed. “Don’t be too hard on Steve. We’ve all had crushes before. Natasha blushes every single time Sam Wilson so much as looks at her.”

“Not true,” the girl protested. “Natasha Romanoff does not _blush_.”

Thor pressed on. “And Clint is _totally_ into Maria Hill, the sassy cheerleader in our Chemistry class.”

Clint folded his arms, shutting his textbook. “Man, I thought this was about Steve and his crush on our teacher.”

Steve smirked. “That’s what you get when you try and tease me. Thank you, Thor.”

“Think nothing of it. I just hope you can get _Bucky_ to give me straight A’s in return. Sex is a powerful persuasion tool, friend.”

Steve groaned, his hands cupping his head. “Damn it, Thor. I thought you were on my side here. Bruce, you’re the rational one.”

“Usually,” the boy admitted, “but this is too much to pass up. I rarely ever get to tease you guys about your exploits. For instance, Thor was giggling yesterday because Jane Foster has him tongue-tied so badly.”

Everyone laughed at that. Thor did not looked amused. “Don’t make me bring the thunder.”

Bruce continued. “And Tony, before you make a witty remark about Steve’s predicament, let’s not forget that you worship at the altar of Virginia Potts.”

Tony froze, eyes widening. “She doesn’t even go to our school! How the hell do you know about _her_?”

Bruce chuckled, eyes wickedly glinting. “I may have hacked your Facebook so discreetly you didn’t even know I was on it.”

Tony slapped his head. “Facebook! I never leave my guard down, but that stupid website always manages to persuade me to stay logged in. I’m such an idiot!”

“You are,” Steve quipped.

“Teacher’s pet,” Tony shot back good-naturedly.

“That’s hilarious, Tony,” Steve deadpanned. “I was waiting for that one. I’m sure you guys are going to keep them coming.”

“Bucky’s going to keep _you_ coming,” Clint muttered under his breath, but everyone heard him loud and clear.

“Clint, why are you like this?” Natasha complained, wrinkling her nose. Steve knew that she wanted to laugh, though, but she had to maintain her status as the classiest one out of the six of them. It wasn’t exactly difficult. Steve was having hot-for-teacher fantasies, Thor fell apart laughing at burps, Clint and Tony were so dirty-minded it was impossible to believe that they were both virgins and Bruce had a secret soft spot for baby kitten videos. Natasha was the one who stood tall and elegantly, usually in the middle of them when they walked as a group. She demanded respect simply from walking, something the boys, especially Tony and Clint, consistently tried to emulate and failed, leaving a source of hilarity in its wake for the other three.

“You love it,” Clint shot back.

And Natasha cracked a smile, leading to laughter, leading to all six of them chuckling freely and, subsequently, abandoning all thoughts of doing homework together. Since they had not had any English homework, Steve was relieved from torment until the next day’s class, which proved to be extremely entertaining.

* * *

The sextet took their seats from the previous day and spent time smirking at Steve as Bucky introduced the lesson. Steve tried not to combust until the collective force of their stares.

“So I read all of your personal introductions yesterday,” Bucky said promptly, “and I already feel like I know all of you a little bit better than I did yesterday. Some of you took it seriously and some of you didn’t. There are a few potential class clowns in this group and I look forward to you playing pranks on me.”

Tony nudged Thor, grinning and pointing at himself.

“Yes, Tony, I’m talking about you.”

The class laughed and Tony shrugged. “Can we have a day away from learning today?”

Bucky chuckled. “As much as I would love to sit in my chair and talk about your favourite movies, I’m required to actually teach you all _something_ to do with the syllabus.”

Tony rolled his eyes and scribbled a note, throwing it to Steve.

_Your boyfriend is a real dork, Rogers._

Steve groaned and took out his writing pencil. _One: not my boyfriend. Two: he’s a fucking teacher, Stark. They teach_. 

The Avengers often traded notes in class and they had become quick and discreet at sending them. Before Steve knew it, the crumpled paper was already on his desk being unfurled by his hands.

_Bet he could teach you a few things outside of the classroom. _

Steve smirked at the thought but didn’t let Tony see it. He wrote back. _Maybe he could teach you_ _how to be a functioning human being?_

Steve used Natasha as the gateway as the note reached Tony.

“Tony? You’re taking notes _already_? And sharing them with Steve? I’m curious as to what you’re taking notes _about_ considering I haven’t actually started teaching anything yet.”

Steve blushed, flicking to an open notebook page as Bucky’s eyes quickly met his and, just as quickly, flickered to Tony.

“I like to predict what my teachers are going to teach to see if it’s basic enough for me to take a nap during the class.”

“May I look at your predictions?” Bucky smirked.

Tony tried to hide the note, but Bucky snatched it from underneath the paper on top of it. Steve winced. Bucky’s eyes scanned the paper and a scarlet tinge throbbed behind his cheeks. Natasha eyed Steve pointedly and grinned. Steve waved her away, concentrating once again on not dying due to embarrassment.

“Well this is interesting,” Bucky said, tucking the note in the pocket of his pants, “but sadly not correct. I might consider your suggestions for future curriculums, Tony.” Steve saw Bucky look at him before turning to the class. He noticed that Bucky never held his gaze for too long. Was he uncomfortable with Steve’s staring that was not discreet one little bit.

The lesson itself was quite interesting, Steve thought. They were studying English poetry, particularly William Blake, a module that Bucky had brought to the syllabus. Steve thought it was definitely something he was unfamiliar with, but found himself becoming accustomed to it. As they slowly worked their way through ‘ _Songs Of Innocence’_ , Steve started to zone out. The problem with that was that he doodled whenever he entered one of his daydreams.

And, of course, his particular daydream was of none other than his teacher, Bucky Barnes. His pencil seemed to flit across the paper independently, a shape taking place on the page rather than annotations in the poetry collection book he was supposed to be looking at.

Before Steve could knock himself out of the stupor, Natasha ripped the paper away from him. Carefully tearing out the sheet he was drawing on, she smiled at him and handed the notebook back. Steve noticed her put the page he was drawing on in her bag, zipping the pocket shut. Luckily for them, nobody noticed this particular interaction.

The lesson ended with no other real incident and Bucky dismissed them a moment before the bell rang.

“Uh, Steve, could you hang back for a second?”

Steve nodded as the others shuffled towards the door, unsure whether to hang back, too, or leave. “I’ll meet you guys at lunch?”

Natasha nodded as she dragged Clint and Tony from the room, Thor and Bruce chuckling behind them, waving goodbye to Steve.

“I won’t keep you long, Steve, I’m sure you’re ready to go to lunch.”

“It’s fine, Bucky,” Steve smiled, liking the informality of his teacher.

“I was reading your short paragraph yesterday and I noticed you like foreign translations of novels?”

“Yeah, I suppose it’s a guilty pleasure of mine,” Steve replied, noticing how Bucky’s lips quivered upwards into a smile.

“Me too,” Bucky revealed, “and I know a great website where you can get them. I wrote it on the back of your paper in case you were interested.”

Steve was touched. That Bucky had gleaned information about him and actively worked to help him further his interests was something that no other teacher had ever done before.

_Oh fuck. He needs to stop being so nice to me. I need to not be thinking these things about him._

“I also wanted to talk to you about _this_ particular piece of paper,” Bucky added, extracting the crumpled up note from his pocket.

Steve really didn’t know how to respond to that. Like, he really didn’t have any idea what to say.

“It’s probably none of my business, Steve, but I noticed an insinuation of your sexuality was mentioned. I know how confusing that kind of stuff can be for a teenager to deal with.”

Steve needn’t have panicked. His sexuality wasn’t a secret nor did he want it to be. Bucky knowing didn’t really change much. It only made him aware that he could make a move if he wanted to.

_No, Steve! Bad thoughts!_

“I wanted you to know that you can talk to me if you need or want to.”

Steve smiled. “Thanks, that’s a really nice thing to say. But I’m completely comfortable with being gay. It’s probably one of the least confusing things in my life, ironically.”

Bucky laughed. “Well, that’s good. Some punks can get real hateful about it, but I’m sure you don’t need your English teacher to tell you that.” Bucky looked down at the paper in his hand. “How about you take this?”

Steve accepted the paper eagerly, his hand brushing against Bucky’s once more. “Thanks. Sorry about that, I…Tony can be…as you’ll probably learn.”

“Boyfriend, huh?” Bucky smirked.

Steve knew that he was being less than professional, but it was just the two of them and he didn’t mind. “Tony’s insane, kinda. I mean, you’re my teacher.”

Bucky’s eyes looked to the closed door and his breath hitched. “That’s your only rebuttal?”

Steve shrugged. “I didn’t know I needed one.”

“You don’t, I’m just messing with you Steve. I want you guys to know that I’m not the strict teacher that sets essays for fun and is harsh with grading. I’m not exactly a pushover, either. Never mind me, I guess I went too far.”

“You didn’t,” Steve replied, “I mean, I don’t mind you being friendly. I prefer teachers that way.”

Bucky’s responsive nod told Steve that he had taken his last sentence the wrong way. Thinking back, Steve probably should not have said it.

“I see,” Bucky said, straightening a ruler on his desk, “well don’t let me keep you. Have a nice day, Steve.”

“See you tomorrow, sir,” Steve said reflexively, leaving the room…

…and completely missing the shudder that tore through Bucky’s spine at the term of address.

God, that kid.

Steve Rogers had been plaguing Bucky’s thoughts since the previous day. Everything about him made Bucky want to push him against the blackboard and fuck him senseless. But he was his student. That couldn’t happen. Bucky liked his job very much.

Although something told him that he would come to like Steve Rogers a whole lot more.


	3. Reticent Heart

After he realised that, yes indeed he was attracted to Bucky Barnes, Steve ripped a page from his notebook and began to count the number of English classes that he had sat through without getting up from his seat, breaking his resolve and running his hand down Bucky’s chest, grabbing the end of his tie and yanking it so that their lips met. It was what Steve was yearning to do, all the time, so each class that went by counted as a huge success for him. Especially when Bucky decided to read Shakespeare to them; the romantic tongue of Romeo Montague almost tipped him over the edge. Fortunately for Steve, Bruce intervened and helped him to calm himself down. After that little incident, he had been mocked endlessly. Luckily for Steve, only Natasha had noticed him stirring in his jeans and decided not to comment on it.

After his last conversation with Bucky, he had realised something. Well, Clint had noticed something. Steve had initially taken it in jest, but had started to dwell on it as days passed him by.

Bucky was looking at him just as much as he was looking at Bucky.

From the way he was looking, Bucky wanted him just as much as he wanted his teacher.

And Steve didn’t really know how to take that. What was he supposed to do? Go up to his teacher and tell him that he felt the same way and thought that they should find someplace quiet to talk? No, that wasn’t going to happen. Steve was never that outgoing and he would never be that confident around somebody that he had some kind of feelings for. It just wasn’t something that Steve was comfortable doing. He _was_ comfortable around Bucky, though, as teachers went. Their earlier conversation had made Steve a little more relaxed, even if Bucky did give off some strange vibes.

Steve was sat with Tony and Thor in the cafeteria during a free period, sighing about his predicament. “This is torture! I want nothing more than to be with my English teacher. What is that all about? I’m going to be on the news.”

“Let’s put it this way,” Tony said, “if Mr. Barnes was to approach you and proposition you, would you do something about it?”

Steve was surprised at the lack of jokes in Tony’s reply. “I don’t know. I mean, there’s no denying that I want him, but it’s wrong. He’s my _teacher_. He could go to jail if somebody was to find out about us. I don’t want that for him.”

Thor nodded. “I can’t say that what you’d be doing wasn’t frowned upon, but you can’t deny your heart, Steve. You’re young, you need to let it guide you and deal with the repercussions afterwards.”

Steve smiled. “So are you going to go after Jane Foster?”

Thor growled. “Dude, shut up.”

Steve shrugged. “I’m just telling you to use your own advice! Look, she’s right over there! If it’s so easy to let your heart guide you, go over there and have lunch with her. I’m sure she would appreciate the company.”

Thor dropped his apple and scoffed. “I can do that. You’re lucky we’re friends, Steven, or else I would have had to bring the thunder.” Thor got up from his seat and made his way over to Jane’s table. Steve saw her blushing hard and smirked to Tony.

“They’ll be together by next week. So what about you in this Virginia girl?”

“Her name is Pepper,” Tony growled and promptly closed his mouth.

“Pepper? I thought her name was…oh, I see. Does she enjoy puns as much as you do, Anthony?”

Tony groaned. “That is not my name!”

“It _so_ is. Your father showed me your birth certificate as proof. Anthony Edward Stark. Anthony and Virginia sounds so much better than Pepper and Tony. Hey, you could call yourselves pepperoni!” Steve chuckled at his own joke.

“I need better friends,” Tony scowled and vacated his seat, making sure to clap Thor on the back for support as he left. Steve realised that Thor wasn’t returning to the table anytime soon, so he made his way to the library to do some reading before English class, which had rapidly become his least favourite subject. Well, no he was lying. It was still his favourite, but it was the one subject where he had to fight to pay attention to something other than the tight fit of his teacher’s pants.

“Oh, hey, Steve,” Bucky smiled as they passed.

Steve forced a smile back. _God he’s looking even hotter today than he was yesterday. No, focus Steve, stop staring at him. He’s going to think you’re insane._ “Hey, Bucky, sir.” _Why did I say_ that _? Calling him ‘sir’ is what I think about when I think about_ that _and I do not want to be thinking about_ that _right now. Oh, his lips are moving…god, those lips. No. He’s clearly speaking to me._

“Sorry, I didn’t catch that.”

_You’re an idiot, Rogers._

“I was asking you what you thought of _A Doll’s House_. Not a lot of your peers had positive reactions to it.”

Steve smiled. Literature was something he could talk about without making it about sex. Well, most of the time. “I liked it. It was progressive in a way that I didn’t expect it to be at the beginning. The later parts were quite the twist.”

Bucky beamed widely. “At least I know I’ll have one student paying full attention during analysis.”

_You got that right. Although I might not be paying attention to your words._

“Absolutely! I love hearing you talk about plays,” Steve blurted, cursing himself for doing so afterwards.

Bucky nodded passively. “Great. I’ll see you in class, okay?”

“You definitely will!” Steve let his mouth say before he clasped it shut. _I am never allowed to say words ever again. Capiche?_

“Dude, that was hard to watch,” Clint remarked from behind him. “I was going to come by and rescue you, but…”

“But you wanted to see me become an awkward simpleton and tell our friends about it?” Steve guessed accurately. Clint shrugged.

“Nothing exciting ever happens in my life, okay? I need your awkwardness to maintain my cool factor.”

“You’re an idiot, Barton. Though Thor is finally talking to Jane, so we might have some more things to tease him about.”

Clint shook his head, grinning. “That’s easy, Jane’s been into him since freshman year, they’re obviously going to hook up without a hitch.”

“As opposed to me and my fucking English teacher?” Steve hissed back.

Clint smirked. “You keep finishing all of my sentences, Steve.”

“You’re too predictable.”

“Nothing wrong with that. It means I know what I want.”

“Like Maria Hill?”

Clint blushed. “No.”

“Go for it, dude. You’re a jock, she’s a cheerleader. It’s practically written in the stars.”

Clint leaned against the wall, his face relaxed. “Whatever, you know, it’s cool. Maybe, maybe not.”

“You’re such a dork,” Steve chuckled, shaking his head before leaving Clint for the library.

* * *

_I’m an hour away! Can one of the others give you a ride? Totally forgot, man, I’m so sorry!_

Steve stared at the text from Thor with a sigh. The rain fell onto the ground in front of him, the shelter causing it to bounce away onto the concrete. He weighed up his situation.

Thor was god knows where with Jane an hour away from the school.

Natasha, Bruce and Clint ditched last period to go and eat somewhere, but Steve had refused the offer due to wanting to attend Bio. Now that seemed like a stupid idea.

Tony had also ditched, but to go and meet Pepper as her school day ended. He was hanging at her place until her parents got back. Steve didn’t need to know the rest.

He knew that he could always walk home, but it would have taken him at least an hour and he wasn’t dressed for the rain. The bus was out, simply because he hated how crowded it was.

Until, fortuitously, his saviour showed up, honking a horn and rolling down the car window.

“Hey! Need a ride?”

Steve looked up at the voice, Bucky all but poking his head out of the window to call him. Steve panicked internally, but stayed stoic on the outside. He nodded, smiling and sprinted for the passenger side, climbing in immediately, holding his bag on his lap in case something problematic happened while in a confined space with the subject of his dirtiest fantasies.

“Thanks for this. Somehow I got stuck without a ride home.”

Bucky smiled. “You’re lucky I’m not staying behind to grade papers. I almost committed myself to it, but an impulse told me to go home. Well, not impulse. I’ve got a DVR full of _Criminal Minds_ to watch.”

Steve didn’t really know what to say. “I guess I am.”

“So where are we heading?”

Steve rattled off the directions as Bucky continued to drive, glancing at Steve every few seconds. Steve noticed because he was doing the same thing.

The ride was silent, filled with tension that neither of them were willing to break. Steve had nothing to say and Bucky was having a hard enough time concentrating on the road as it was. The windshield wipers were the only source of noise inside the car as Bucky had not turned on the radio.

Eventually, they got to Steve’s place, Bucky parking the car abruptly, making Steve actually notice that they were where they needed to be.

“Well, um, thanks for the ride.”

“No problem,” Bucky replied coolly, when he was really thinking about how said he was that Steve was leaving his company.

“I really appreciate it,” Steve said as his hand automatically reached out to touch Bucky’s knee. He squeezed it, his brain acting without checking with him first.

_What are you doing? Oh my God, what have you done?_

Bucky’s eyes widened but, instead of jerking away, he rested his hand on top of Steve’s gently, smiling. “It’s really no problem,” he said.

Before he knew it, Bucky had tucked his hand behind Steve’s back and was pulling him in closer for a deep kiss.

Steve’s body finally caught up to his brain as he lips moved seamlessly alongside Bucky’s. The heat rushed straight to his groin as he realised what was happening.

_I’m kissing Bucky. I’m kissing Bucky. I’m kissing my English teacher._

Steve pulled himself away, knowing that he would keep going and he didn’t want that in a cramped car. “That happened.”

“It did. Did you…um, like it?”

Steve nodded. “Yeah. I didn’t think that you would have wanted that.”

“Are you kidding? Teaching your class is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. You sit there, all broad and gorgeous and I’m expected not to stare at you for an hour?”

Steve did a double take. “Wait, you’ve been…looking at me too?”

“Too?” Bucky smirked.

“Of course. How could I not?”

Steve’s phone buzzed, ruining whatever kind of moment they were having. It was Thor, but Steve decided he would pick up later. It wasn’t really a good time.

“Anything important?”

“No, I’ll just call back later. What were we talking about?”

“The fact that we’ve been trying not to stare at each other for two weeks.”

Steve chuckled. “I have to look at you, you’re the teacher. I have to seem like I’m paying attention.”

Bucky nodded, somewhat put out. “That’s right. I _am_ your teacher. God, this was wrong, I shouldn’t have done this. You’re my student!”

“I’m eighteen,” Steve mumbled, but it was lost in Bucky’s anxious mind.

“That doesn’t matter, I could go to jail and lose my job…you’d come off badly too. We shouldn’t do this, Steve. Don’t you agree?”

Steve sighed. “I suppose what I wanted got in the way of reality. I know that I like you, but if things are too much, then I’ll back off. If you say no, it’s done.”

Bucky chewed his gums painfully, like he always did when he was nervous or hurting. “I…wish things weren’t like this. Maybe when you graduate…”

Steve smiled. “Yeah. Maybe.” He was desperately trying to hide the fact that he wasn’t okay with putting his feelings aside. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Mr. Barnes.” Steve got out of the car quickly before anything else could be said. The rain poured down on his head as he thought about what had just happened.

Pulling out his phone, he dialled the first number on his contacts screen.

“Bruce? Can you call the others and come over as soon as you can?”

_“Is everything alright, Steve?”_

“Yeah. Yeah, it’s fine, I just need you guys right now.”

_“We’ll be there as soon as we can. Sit tight, buddy.”_

And Steve tried to do exactly that, banishing all thoughts of Bucky from his mind.

The more he tried, the more he failed.


	4. What Matters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains some analysis and kinda spoilers for Henrik Ibsen's 'A Doll's House'. Seeing as it's over 100 years old, I didn't think it'd be a problem. I kind of nerded out in this chapter as you can tell! I enjoyed it, so yeah. Hope you all enjoy!

After the slightly awkward event in Bucky’s car, Steve was surrounded by his friends and a lot of Chinese food as an apology from Thor.

“Sorry, again. This wouldn’t have happened if I didn’t leave you stranded.”

Steve shook his head glumly. “It’s fine, Thor. Things happen for a reason. If it wasn’t today, it was going to be another day. At least I got the rejection over with.”

Natasha squeezed his arm. “It wasn’t a total rejection, Steve. He has some feelings towards you. Things are just…difficult.”

“I know. I really wish he wasn’t my teacher. Maybe I could move schools and then it wouldn’t be frowned upon.”

Tony sighed. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite work like that.”

“Why do you choose now to become the voice of reason?”

Tony shrugged. “You need serious right now.”

Bruce smiled. “What was the kiss like?”

Clint frowned. “Bruce, what?”

But Steve was smiling dazedly, staring into space as though entranced. “It was…everything. Like, it was both hot and chaste at the same time. It wasn’t sexual, it was _romantic_. I can’t explain it. It was the kiss of a lifetime.”

Bruce nodded. “And how did you feel about it afterwards?”

Steve fell back down to reality. His eyes snapped shut before fluttering open, new depth lighting the irises. “ _Needed._ I felt like he’d just given me everything I’ve ever wanted and things I’ve never even thought about wanting. All with one kiss. I’ll remember it for the rest of my life. It was just one of _those_ kisses, you know. Time stopped and the world did too. There was _fire_ and electricity and…his hands were—.”

“Um, Stevie?” Tony grinned pointedly at him and he stopped talking as soon as he saw him.

“Too much?”

Bruce smiled. “Maybe just a little bit. You just expressed your feelings without realising it, which is what I wanted to get from you.”

“Do you just know how to get into my head?” Steve asked, frowning.

“It’s basic psychology,” Bruce shrugged.

Clint groaned. “If that’s basic, I don’t even want to _think_ about taking classes at college. And there Jessica Jones was saying that it was an easy major.”

“Was that before or after she rejected you?” Natasha smirked.

Clint pouted, eyebrows shooting upwards. “That’s neither here nor there. Anyway, we’re here because Steve needs us. My mediocre love life can wait.”

Steve picked at his noodles idly. “I don’t know, I think hearing about your mediocre love life might cheer me up right now.”

Clint exhaled deeply. “Thanks, Steve. Thanks a lot.”

* * *

Bucky took a drink from the bottle of beer he had been clutching since he returned home with a sigh. Why had he kissed Steve? That had just made things so much more complicated. His best student had just admitted his romantic interest and he had done the same.

And then he had immediately called a halt to whatever was about to happen.

Realistically, Bucky knew why he had done it. He was a teacher and Steve was a student. That was as much explanation as he needed.

But Steve was…captivating in a way that Bucky had never experienced before. He had tried to the adult gay dating scene, but it was tough. People his age were already looking to settle down. Bucky was only twenty-six, but apparently that was in the prime range for settling down with the love of your life. Bucky didn’t think so.

Fun was still on the cards, but why on earth did he have to become so heavily attracted to a _student_? Steve Rogers was pretty much the most irresistible human being Bucky had ever seen and that was no exaggeration. He had wanted Steve from the get-go, and nothing had ceased over the weeks that had passed like he had expected it to. Bucky tried to repeat to himself that he was a senior and was also eighteen, which was highly important and Bucky wouldn’t have made a move otherwise. He knew that what he saw in Steve was something else entirely from the norm and it granted him a feeling that he wanted to hold on to for as long as he could.

Steve brought him this giddiness that rose up in his chest and a connection that he shared with nobody else. Steve liked reading his favourite classical novels in foreign languages which meant that Steve _spoke_ foreign languages. Bucky didn’t need to know which, he was already impressed and more than turned on.

The kiss in the car and had magical and he knew that Steve thought so, too, which was why it was so important that Bucky end things before they truly begun. If he was getting this hung up over a kiss, he didn’t even want to think about what he would be like if he pursued something with Steve. What that ‘something’ would even be, Bucky didn’t know.

All he knew was that he wasn’t going to be getting any sleep that night.

* * *

Bucky walked into the classroom, determined not to let signs of sleeplessness or awkwardness play on his face. He had a rapport with his students (oh how ironic that was now) and he wasn’t about to let that go because of a kiss with one of them. “Hey, guys.” He pretended not to notice the look shared between Steve’s friends. Steve kept his eyes on his desk, presumably doodling something on a spare piece of notebook paper. He loved looking at Steve while he sketched… _no, Bucky, you’re not supposed to be paying attention to him!_

Steve, however, was drawing a series of incomprehensible patterns and swirls, anything to keep him from drawing the laidback English teacher in a way that would only make Steve’s cracking heart ache even more.

“What’s that supposed to be?” Thor leaned over, frowning.

Steve shrugged. “Anything but what I really want to draw.”

Thor smiled apologetically at him. “Hang in there, buddy.”

Steve nodded. “Thanks, man.”

Bucky rubbed his hands together audibly, making the class look up. “Right, so wanted to take today’s class to talk about the themes Ibsen wanted to present in ‘ _A Doll’s House’_. Anyone got any ideas?”

Natasha raised her hand promptly.

“Ah, Natasha?”

“Morality,” she replied with a steely glare on her face, “and whether some things are the right thing to do, no matter what the circumstances are.”

Steve wanted to groan, but he knew that drawing attention to himself could cost him everything. He made a mental note to lecture Natasha about when to address the issue at hand.

Bucky nodded cautiously. “Anything further to add?”

“Well,” she continued, “Torvald is so disgraced at Nora’s actions that he completely disregards that she did it to save his life. This leads me to infer that people are willing to overlook intention, which can save something from being immoral. I think that Nora’s intention balances out the forgery but Torvald is so used to underestimating her that he believes that she was being stupid, something that he admitted he found endearing about her as a woman which I find personally repulsive.”

Bucky was surprised as her point slowly turned into a tirade. What he thought was personally directed at him was nothing more than a very good point. “Excellently worded, Natasha. So you think that people with good intentions doing bad things should be given leniency?”

Natasha sighed. “You’re broadening the scope, Bucky. In this particular instance, given that Nora merely wanted to save her husband’s life and put her reputation on the line to do so, I don’t think what she did deserves punishment, at least in the eyes of her marriage which was already crumbling anyway. It depends wholly on the issue at hand.”

“Well argued,” Bucky commended. “Does anybody have anything to share?” Bucky took a deep breath. “Steve?” The whole class knew that Steve was the one Bucky looked to for verbal debates so Bucky knew that he needed to be in character. He didn’t realise what he was doing to Steve, however. The boy paled before swallowing and nodding weakly.

“Uh, it address the subject of love for the sake of love.”

“And what do you mean by that?”

Steve bit his lip. “Well Nora and Torvald were clearly married for appearances. Nora believed she loved him because that was the situation back then. Women in the late 19th century just wanted to be married and were often urged into it. The man had complete control which is disgusting. Kristine married so she could support her ill family, but Nora thought she had found her true love. He belittled her, but that was nothing but the norm back then. Torvald clearly saw her as nothing other than a possession which becomes clear by the use of animal themes as nicknames.”

Bucky was impressed as he always was by Steve’s answers. He also knew by now that Steve always had a follow up. “Your conclusion?”

“Some love isn’t really love. Sometimes…it’s toxic and the ending of the play showed that the best thing for both of them was for Nora to leave.”

Now _that_ was directed at him. And Steve had every right to be angry at him. They had kissed so passionately and Bucky had immediately broke things off for his career. It was understandable on both parts, Bucky thought.

_Time for a challenge, Steve Rogers._

“But Nora had lied to him for a long time,” Bucky countered. He knew the material inside out, but he bet himself that Steve still knew it better.

“When she had been unhappy for a long time, that’s not a concern. Torvald doesn’t care about that when it all unfolds, he only cares that she’s been immoral and that she’s brought disgrace to his name. But when he finds Krogstad’s second letter redeeming her, apparently all is forgiven and he “loves he more” because of the fact she doesn’t seem like a complete failure anymore because his reputation is still intact. He was ashamed of her.”

Bucky took that comment with little reaction, though his knuckles whitened considerably. “How many times did you read the play, Steve?”

“Once and I really enjoyed it. I just spent a lot of time thinking about it afterwards.”

“I did too. Of course, I had to. My career depended on it,” Bucky said probably a little too harshly. He knew that Steve seemed to be hurting, but he couldn’t help it. He was human and he was flawed. Natasha was clearly furious with him, or just highly protective of her friend. Probably both, Bucky rather thought.

The rest of the class was frowning and Bucky knew he had to seize control once again. “Alright, so I want you to take a theme and write me a paper about it. For extra credit, pick another piece of literature that was published before 1900 and compare the themes. They can either be similarly portrayed or you can pick works that clash. If you have no knowledge of pre-20th century literature, come and see me for some recommendations. I want at least three pages from you guys, okay? Any questions, stick around at the end of class. And since I’m a nice guy, I’ll give you the rest of the period to plan and outline or hit me up with questions.”

Steve tightened his grip on his pencil as Bucky turned around to write the assignment on the blackboard for people to copy down if they so desired and his _extremely_ tempting posterior was on display for him to look at. Well, it wasn’t as though he could look away.

“Steve,” Natasha hissed as Clint threw erasers at his head. He whipped his head around and frowned. “Maybe not so much with that.”

“Thanks guys. You keep me honest. And Clint, maybe find another way to get my attention.”

He shrugged and fired one at Tony.

Bruce momentarily swapped seats with Clint so that he could further talk to Steve. “Try not to focus on it. It’s hard, I know. Clint, Tony, do _not_ make a comment about that or I will personally see to it that your various love lives are the central topics of discussion for at least a month.”

Clint glanced at Tony and they both backed down. “Not worth it,” Tony muttered. “It’s an obvious joke anyway, if Bruce detected it.”

“Just focus on your essay,” Bruce continued, always the voice of reason, “do you have an idea about what book or play you’re doing?”

Steve sighed, shrugging. “Maybe, I don’t know yet. I was thinking about doing something Shakespearean, maybe talk about the limits and boundaries of romance and love. Something close to home, you know?”

Bruce paused. “Maybe do something less hard-hitting. A distraction piece of sorts.”

“Yeah, that could work. Thanks, Bruce. Really.”

Bruce held up his hands. “Just doing my job.” He moved back to Clint. “Get out of my seat. And no mocking.”

Clint nodded, giving a mock salute in return.

Bucky watched the whole thing with a sad smile, not having time to dwell on Steve’s sadness as Thor approached him with a question. “Did you have a question, Thor?”

He nodded and launched into his question. Bucky tried his hardest to pay attention but his eyes flickered to Steve’s desk several times and he was once again sketching something that was probably beautiful.

Tucked away in the corner of his sketchbook was the drawing Steve had done of himself and Bucky. Nobody had seen it and all he wanted to do was work on it, but he knew that he couldn’t while peering eyes were everywhere. So he settled for drafting his essay outline, despite Bruce’s good advice, about toxic love. He was bitter and he wanted Bucky to know it. It wasn’t his fault or Steve’s, but somebody had to bear the brunt of Steve’s feelings. He couldn’t keep burdening his friends, so his essay would have to be a medium for emotion instead.

The bell rang abruptly, Steve being the first to leave, everybody else not far behind him. It was the period before lunch, so Bucky didn’t take that as a reflection on his teaching skills.

He stood up and paced the classroom, spotting something on the floor by Steve’s desk. Curious, he picked it up and turned it over.

A beautiful sketch of...him and Steve, lips locked in a fierce embrace, probably an accurate representation of their kiss the previous day. Bucky drank it in, Steve’s talent really jumping out of him.

Then, footsteps. A voice.

“You…uh…weren’t supposed to see that.”


	5. Facing Facts

“You… _ really _ weren’t supposed to see that,” Steve mumbled as Bucky became more engrossed in the image of the two of them. 

“You’re really good,” Bucky countered, saying one of the only appropriate things that came to his mind when he needed words. Steve’s artistic talent was possibly more advanced than his academics and that was saying something. The finer details of their faces had been captured perfectly and Bucky found himself with the urge to keep the picture to look at whenever he got sad. He knew that he couldn’t in case anybody discovered it, but the allure was quite potent. Steve’s art spoke for itself; he was bitter yet sad at the same time and that made Bucky quite uneasy. He didn’t want to completely alienate Steve, he wanted… _ something _ with Steve. Something that he was perpetually reminded that he couldn’t have. 

“Thank you,” Steve whispered as Bucky reluctantly handed the drawing back to him. “I wasn’t really sure why I started to draw it, but I guess it’s obvious, isn’t it?” 

Bucky’s breath hitched as Steve took a step closer to him. “Is it?” 

“Of course it is. I miss you, Bucky. I haven’t stopped thinking about what happened in your car since it happened. I can’t get you out of my head.” 

“You’re not angry with me?” 

“Do I seem angry with you?” 

“Well, Natasha certainly seemed angry.” 

“I’m not Nat, Bucky. She’s fiercely protective of me. I was her first ever friend and that means a lot to her. I’m sorry about the way she spoke in class.” 

“No, I probably deserved it, if not more. I made you think that there was something between us and then I cut you off. Not my finest moment, Steve.” 

“But there  _ is _ something between us. I know you still feel it, you have to. I know I’m not on my own here.”

“You’re…you’re not. Okay, you’re not. I still feel something for you. But you know why I can’t act on it.”

“Your career, I know.” 

“You know, I thought about applying to teach at another school.” 

“You did? Just so we could be together? I don’t know what to say.” 

“I don’t know what you should say either. Look, Steve, I really like you. You’re hot, you’re smart, you have ambition. We have a genuine spark and I’ve never felt something so strong before. I’d give anything for you to not be my student.” 

“I’d give anything for you to not be my teacher, but these are the cards we’ve been dealt. We have to find a way to deal with them. I’d like to deal with them together.” 

“Steve…”

“This can work, I know it can. Nobody has to know, Bucky. I won’t even tell my friends, it’ll just be between us.” 

“What you’re suggesting is extremely risky. I could lose my job, you’d get a reputation.” 

“I don’t care about that!” Steve said, surprising himself somewhat. “Last night, after I left your car, I realised how much I’ve come to care for you in such a short space of time. And that  _ kiss _ . I’ve kissed before, but  _ nothing _ like that.”

“I know, for me too. I…can’t ignore the risks, Steve, but I also can’t ignore how I feel about you.”

“So what are you saying?” 

Bucky sighed deeply. “I’m saying that I want to make a go of this. I want us to be something, together.”

“What about your job?” 

“So we won’t get caught,” Bucky shrugged. “We’re certainly both smart enough to make something like this work. I just know that I can’t go on with my life without you in it. I can’t only see you from behind my desk when you’re answering questions about Chaucer and Ibsen with a mouth that I’ve kissed.”

Steve blushed suddenly. “It’s not much fun watching you read century-old dialogue with a mouth that I’ve kissed either. It just makes me want to kiss you again.”

“What are you doing tonight?”

Steve stared.

“I’m sorry was that really forward of me? I’m sorry, I just…” 

“I’m not doing anything tonight. Did you have something in mind?”

“I want you to come over.”

“To your house?” 

Bucky nodded. “I mean, if you don’t…want to…we can do something else. You know, far away from this town and anyone we’ve ever met. We’ll have to be smart about this. Steve, I want to ask you one last time because sneaking around seems hot but it just causes trouble along the line. Do you want to start something? I couldn’t bear it if you backed out because of the messing around.” 

Steve bit his lip. “Bucky, I’m sure about this. I want to be with you. I’m not going to regret his anytime down the line because this is what I want. And if things get tough, I’ll remember how I’m feeling this very moment. What I’m feeling for  _ you _ .”

Bucky looked at the door, eyes laced with paranoia. 

Steve sighed. “I suppose it wouldn’t be wise if I kissed you right now, would I? Somebody could walk in at any moment.” He bit his lip lightly. 

“Don’t do that,” Bucky groaned. “You biting your lip has to be the hottest I’ve ever seen. I don’t know how much longer I can go without kissing you, Steve.” 

Steve took a step closer. “You know you can resist, Bucky.” 

Bucky looked away. “What are you trying to do to me?” 

Steve took another step closer. “Test your restraint…if we’re going to work this out, you need to be able to hold out when I’m close to you. I know I can, but can  _ you _ ?” 

Bucky’s breath hitched dangerously, voice going lower. “Steve. Fuck, Steve, I need you.  _ No _ , I can do this, I can hold out. I have to be able to. But when you’re in class and you’re concentrating on whatever book we're studying...jesus, Steve, that gets me so hot.” 

Steve smirked. “Literature makes you horny? Interesting to know...Is foreplay gonna involve me reciting iambic pentameter to you to make you hard?”

Bucky shuddered. “You realise the position you’ve put me in right now, Steve? I’m  _ hard _ at school. In my  _ classroom _ , where I teach the rest of your peers.”

Steve stepped closer still. “Don’t tell me that that doesn’t turn you on more than Chaucer ever could…”

Bucky pretended to be nonchalant. “I’m perfectly indifferent.” 

“You’re a terrible liar.” 

“And you’re supposed to be at lunch right now, but instead you’re talking dirty to your English teacher. How does that make you feel, Steve?” 

Steve shrugged, trying something. “I don’t know, Mr. Barnes, I kind of like it.” 

Bucky winced. “God damn it, I can’t win with you, can I?” Until Bucky realised that he could. “You know, I don’t really appreciate the way you’ve been talking to me, Mr. Rogers. I’m your teacher and a little respect should be due, don’t you think?”

Steve stood up straight, catching on. “Oh...yes, Mr. Barnes, absolutely. I’ll be sure to show you some more respect in the future, sir.” 

Bucky ignored the way he felt about Steve calling him sir and licked his lips. “Good. I think that detention after school should suffice as a punishment, don’t you?”

Steve nodded. “Yes, sir. I’ll be there.” 

Bucky nodded to the door. “Yes you will be. Now and go and have lunch with your friends, Steve. I’ll see you later on. Meet me after classes and I’ll give you the address,” he added in a low whisper.

* * *

 

As soon as Steve left the classroom, he wasn’t much use to anybody from that moment on. His head was filled with Bucky, Bucky and more Bucky. Even as his friends talked to him about the delay in him getting to lunch, he blocked everything out. All of their voices became blurs and all of his responses were automated, unthinking. He could have said absolutely anything to them and he wouldn’t have been aware of it at all. 

“I hope you yelled at him, Steve,” Nat spoke during the silence. 

Steve hummed, looking up at her. “What? Oh, yeah, sure, I really gave it to him.”

Clint and Thor nodded, but Bruce frowned. 

“You didn’t at all, did you?”

Steve blinked a few times before pouting. “How did you know?”

Bruce rolled his eyes. “Because it’s you, Steve. You were never going to have it out with him. Any slight kindness on his part and you go all putty in his hands. I suppose you’ve forgiven him.” 

Tony scoffed. “Of course he has. It’s young love at its worst.”

“I was kind of expecting you guys to support me with this.” 

Clint sighed. “We do support you, Steve always, you know that. We just don’t…”

“We don’t want to see you hurt again. Last night was hard for us to watch, Steve. We hate seeing you like this,” Natasha finished for him. 

“I know this must be frustrating for you guys. I know how I felt last night, but surely if there’s a chance of me finding true happiness, that you would all be on board with that.” 

The other five looked at each other warily. Steve watched their glances with a curious expression. 

“Now I need to know what you’re all thinking. No matter how bad it is, I just need to know, okay?”

And Steve knew from the moment it happened, it was going to be Natasha who spoke the words that they were all thinking. 

“Steve, we just think that there’s no way that this whole thing is going to end well. Look, we love you and we know that Bucky is a good guy, but this whole combination was always going to crumble around you.”

“And you think I’m stupid for going after it, something that is going to make me genuinely happy. Well thank you  _ all _ for your support. No, really, it means a lot to know that the people I care about most in the world don’t actually want me to be happy.” 

Steve sighed dramatically and walked away from the table, leaving his lunch untouched. He could spend the hour studying and then stay silent through all of his classes where he was sat next to his friends. He didn’t understand why they were being so unwilling to let him be happy. He knew the risks more than anybody, especially his friends. He knew what he was getting himself into and he knew what would happen should it all go wrong. 

But wasn’t the chance at total happiness worth the risk? 

Steve rather thought it was.


	6. Make Me Feel Alive

Unsurprisingly to everyone involved, Steve was the first person out of the six to initiate contact after the lunch argument. Steve hated conflict between friends, even when he had been the partial cause of it. After their last class of the day, which they all shared together, Steve wandered up to them, an apology all but bubbling on his tongue.

“I’m sorry!” He blurted out before anybody could stop him. He directed it mostly at Natasha, for she had been the one to vocalise the group’s concerns. Natasha just smiled.

“We’re sorry, too, Steve. We talked it over and we’re going to support you in this. There’s nothing we want more for you than for you to be happy.”

Bruce nodded. “And if something bad _does_ happen from it, and I’m not saying we think it will, then we’ll be there for you in whatever way you need us. Tony, _don’t_ ,” Bruce added, sensing Tony’s quip hovering in the air. Tony pouted.

“Thank you all. I shouldn’t have snapped at you guys, I should’ve known you were just looking out for me.”

Clint clapped him on the shoulder. “You were feeling ganged up on. Everyone’s been there.”

“Tony, don’t,” Bruce scolded softly.

Tony rolled his eyes. “Can a guy not have _any_ fun around here?”

Steve chuckled. “ _I_ certainly can,” he said, smirking at Clint.

Clint frowned and Natasha gave him a pointed look. The boy watched Bruce smirk as he realised he was missing out on the joke. He waved his hand.

“I’m sure I don’t even want to know.”

Steve shrugged. “I’m not sure that you do.”

“So,” Thor smiled, “what are we doing tonight?”

“My English teacher,” Tony replied. “Wait, nope. Wrong Avenger, sorry. That’s you, right Steve?”

Steve hoped to distract from his blush by rolling his eyes.

Bruce smirked. “Wait, you’re actually doing our English teacher tonight?”

“I’m not sure what will happen, but he invited me over to his house.”

Everyone, surprisingly including Bruce, looked at him with a smirk.

“We all know what’s going to be happening tonight.”

Steve shrugged. “I don’t know, Clint. Maybe, I don’t know. I just…”

“Don’t know?” Natasha supplied helpfully.

Steve nudged her into the wall gently, grinning from ear to ear. “I made a friend today, Nat. Did you see who I was sat with in History?”

“Who?” Steve had piqued her curiosity.

“A certain quarterback of the football team.”

She blushed immediately. “What did you say to him?”

Thor laughed loudly. “It seems that only Sam Wilson can get our Nat to blush.”

Clint tapped rapidly on his phone and grimaced. “Sorry, guys. Mom wants me home like…well, _now_. Something about my browser history.”

Every other member of the group winced.

Tony clapped Clint’s shoulder firmly. “Tough break, man. Good luck.”

The others echoed similar sentiments.

Tony, Bruce and Thor were all riding together and headed to Thor’s car, parting ways with Natasha and Steve.

If Steve was pressed, Natasha was probably his best friend out of the five of them, even though he was closer to each of them in a different way. Natasha, with the help of Bruce mostly, was his problem solver and he did his best to help her too. Which was why he spent the majority of History trying to gauge how Sam Wilson felt about her. From what Steve could gather, Sam was even more of a closed book than Nat herself was.

“So,” She broached carefully, “are you ready for tonight?”

Steve exhaled deeply. “Sort of. We both know I haven’t done anything like that. The furthest I’ve gotten is that drunken _Spin The Bottle_ kiss with Tony.”

Nat rolled her eyes. “And he wouldn’t let any of us forget it for days.”

“Weeks for me,” Steve corrected. “He kept asking me if I kissed better than Leo Fitz.”

Natasha raised her eyebrow. “Did he?”

Steve smirked, licking his lips. “Let’s just say that it was his first kiss and he knew exactly what he was doing.”

“We’re digressing. But make sure to come back to that later. Are you…ready for everything that might come with today?”

Steve debated it briefly. “I think I’ll know in the moment, if that moment actually happens. When I look at him, I think of how good it would be to be _with_ him and it all just seems so simple. But thinking about it rationally, I have to put my mind before my…”

“Dick?”

“Thank you for finishing all of my sentences today, I really appreciate it,” Steve deadpanned.

“Are you headed there now?”

Steve shook his head. “Definitely not. He’s got… _grading_ to do and I need to prepare for anything that might go on tonight.”

Natasha elbowed him playfully. “Do you think he’s going to grade _you_?”

He knew what she was trying to do. She was trying to get him to blush, to squirm. Well, not this time. Steve wouldn’t allow it.

“Only if we fuck on his desk. A nighttime detour to the school sounds pretty naughty.”

She faltered, but only momentarily. “Well played, Rogers.”

He chuckled and slung an arm around her neck.

Before they parted ways, she turned to him seriously.

“Remember that we’re all rooting for you. But, like Bruce said before, if anything _does_ go not the way you planned it to, call one of us and we’ll all be there for you, Steve.”

Steve grinned. “Thank you.”

She shrugged. “Whatever. It’s not like any of us have got anything better to do on a school night. Enjoy your _homework_ , Steve.”

Steve instantly knew what she meant and from the moment she drove away, he was scared. Completely exhilarated, but also scared. 

* * *

 

After intensely rushing around preparing everything he possibly could (Steve definitely didn’t want to dwell on some of the things he had had to do), he was finally there.

At Bucky’s house.

Where he _lived_.

Bucky had gotten Steve’s email from the school system and set up an entirely new email just for their interactions. Using the school servers, of course, which Steve thought was smart because Tony and Nat could intervene if anything technical would threaten to catch them out. Steve knew that the less time he spent thinking about technology, the better. It just didn’t agree with him. Bucky had emailed him a time and the address and Steve had stared at the message for longer than he would have cared to admit to anybody he didn’t trust completely.

It was a small enough house, possibly two bedrooms Steve thought, and oddly it was perfect for Bucky. Steve could definitely imagine Bucky living there. And he was about to witness it firsthand.

Once he knocked on the door, that was. He couldn’t quite bring himself to raise his knuckle to the glass in front of him. And it would turn out that he didn’t have to.

Slowly, the door opened to reveal Bucky dressed in a simple combination of blue jeans and a short white tee that showed off his build. Steve felt slightly overdressed, but figured that it might not even matter what clothes he was wearing.

“Hey, Steve,” Bucky chirped, a smile taking over his face upon seeing his student. His eyes quickly darted around for any of his nosy neighbors, but they didn’t seem to be out in force at this time of the evening.

“Hey,” Steve whispered, being quickly ushered in by Bucky.

“Can I get you anything? A drink, maybe?”

Steve shrugged. “Some water would be good.”

“Sure you don’t want a beer?”

He smirked. “Are you trying to trick me into underage drinking or get me drunk and take advantage? Either way, your morals are questionable at best.”

Bucky laughed loudly, the way that he did when Steve made one of his jokes. He had Bucky’s exact same sense of humor and it went a long way with the man. “Touché.”

As Bucky went into the kitchen, Steve quickly followed, losing all of his anxieties just locking eyes with  the former. Replacing that came the desire that always took hold of him whenever he and Bucky were in the same room. And pretty much whenever he thought about the older man.

Bucky filled the glass with water at the sink, Steve slipping his arms around his teacher’s waist, pressing his lips lightly against the back of his neck. Bucky’s grip tightened slightly around the glass as a shiver ripped through them. He felt the warmth of Steve’s lips and immediately placed the glass on the counter, turning to face his student.

“Hi,” he said, tongue brushing across Steve’s parted lips.

“Hi,” Steve replied breathily, intoxicating by Bucky’s sheer closeness.

“We should sit and talk. You know, cover our bases,” Bucky suggested, hands moving up Steve’s trained arms.

Steve nodded in acquiescence, the words muddled in his brain as he began to focus on the pulse thrumming through his body and how it was increasing with every second that passed, every second that Bucky was connected to him. “Yeah…we should. Talk.”

Bucky smirked, seeing how breathless Steve had become under his touch, and kissed Steve’s mouth chastely. “Let’s go then, Steve.”

Steve’s feet took him on autopilot to Bucky’s living room, where he perched on the edge of the sofa. Bucky shook his head.

“Sit back, make yourself comfortable. I don’t want you to feel awkward here, Steve. I want you to be able to come here and be yourself, be comfortable.”

Steve nodded, leaning back on the piece of furniture. Bucky laughed at how rigid he still was. There would be time for rigidity later. But for now…

“So,” Bucky “now that we’ve decided to make something of this, there have to be some ground rules. Right?”

“Right,” Steve nodded.

“Obviously, no being together on school grounds. That’s the important one.”

“No telling anybody about us. As far as everybody else is concerned, we’re both single.”

Bucky thought about it. “Maybe you should take an interest in somebody. Just to throw people off the scent.”

“This isn’t CSI, people are used to me being single. The options for a gay guy in the senior class aren’t exactly in the double digits.”

“So I’ve noticed. That’s why I snapped you up pretty quickly.”

“Best decision of your life as far as I’m concerned.”

“It’s proving to be up there with the greats,” Bucky smirked. “Well, I think that’s it for the rules. That’s all I can think of anyway.”

“It’s pretty straightforward, just no talking about us in school and no being together. We follow those and we’ll be fine.”

“In theory. Things could always go wrong.”

Steve ran his hand up Bucky’s thigh experimentally. “You really want to think about that right now?”

Bucky sat up straighter in his seat and let out a heavy breath. “Nope. You just keep your hand right there.”

Steve tilted his head, realizing that he had all the power. “What? You don’t want it… _here_?” Steve’s hand found Bucky’s crotch, cupping it firmly. Bucky sucked in a breath through his teeth and grinned.

“Damn, Steve.”

Then he thought of something. Why was he allowing Steve to take control? It felt good, but their dynamic involved him taking over and not Steve. He was the teacher, after all.

Bucky expertly swung his leg across the other side of Steve, straddling him closely.

Steve, quickly getting over his surprise, ran his hands down Bucky’s back and settled on his ass, pulling him closer still. “For god's sake, Mrs. Robinson. Here we are. You got me into your house. You give me a drink. You... put on music. Now you start opening up your personal life to me and tell me your husband won't be home for hours.”

Bucky chuckled. “So?”

“Mrs. Robinson…you’re trying to seduce me.”

“Huh?”

“Aren’t you?”

Bucky broke character and pressed his lips against Steve’s firmly. “You bet I am, Rogers.” Bucky kissed Steve deeply, enjoying the feeling that he had been craving since it happened for the first time.

Steve was feeling much of the same, the rough tenderness of Bucky’s lips melting into his own, a fine embrace.

Bucky pushed his hips forward, trying to maintain the amount of friction that Steve’s hand had been providing for him. Steve groaned at the feeling and pushed upwards, meeting Bucky in a shower of sparks that danced behind their eyes. Steve was almost delirious with pleasure and clenched a fistful of Bucky’s hair in response to the sensation.

“Are we going to do this?” Steve whispered in between kisses.

Bucky yearned for Steve’s lips to be back on his and almost moaned out his answer. “If you’re sure you want to.”

Steve nipped at Bucky’s neck, sending the older man into a frenzy of sensation and pleasure. “I’ve never wanted anymore more in my whole life.”

Bucky smirked. “Not even for me to assign _Othello_ as the next drama reading?”

Steve blushed. “Shut up and take your clothes off.”

James Barnes did _not_ need to be told twice. 

* * *

 

Steve and Bucky ended up on the floor.

A thin blanket wrapped around them from their stomachs down. Steve’s head was rested on Bucky’s shoulder and Bucky had his arm around his lover.

“Not to be a movie cliché right now, but that was…amazing.”

Bucky chuckled. “I’m not surprised. I know how good I am and there was no way _you_ were going to be bad.”

Steve tilted his head. “It was my first time, I could’ve been terrible.”

Bucky just stared at him. “Not likely.”

Steve sighed and smiled widely. “I’m glad you were my first.”

“That means a lot, Steve. I’m glad I could make it enjoyable for you.”

Steve sat up, turning to face his teacher. “Not just enjoyable. It felt special. _I_ felt special.”

Bucky kissed him quickly. “Well, that’s because you _are_ special, Steve.”

“That’s not what I mean,” Steve corrected quickly, “I just meant that I always thought about sex as something that’s done out of necessity because it’s a life experience. You made it so much more than that. I’ve never felt so connected to one person before.”

Bucky was warmed by Steve’s words. “I feel the same. I’ve had sex before, but nothing ever like that. Sure, other guys were more experienced, but you made me _feel_ things. There was passion and fire and everything that you read about in every great piece of romantic literature.”

“You know, up until this very moment, I was never one-hundred percent sure if we made the right choice here. With us. Now I know that we have.”

“Damn right we have. Our first test is tomorrow, though. How am I going to look at you in the same way as I do the other students?”

Steve shrugged. “Just…do it, I guess.”

Bucky rolled his eyes. “Okay, Nike, I could just do that. But there’s just one little thing you’re forgetting. I haven’t literally been _inside_ the other students.”

A blush rolled across Steve’s cheeks. “Okay, _still_ , just teach as you always do. I may or may not decide to go commando tomorrow.”

Bucky threw his hands up. “See, _why_? You had to go and say something like that. Now I’ll be thinking about it.”

Steve stood up and winked. “That’s the point, Buck.”

Bucky stared shamelessly at Steve’s ass as he walked away, feeling nothing but happiness about their current situation. As memories of just minutes before trickled through his mind, he had a good feeling that they were going to be alright. They could do it, they could survive the next few months until Steve graduated.

Couldn’t they? 


	7. New Light

With the newfound experience between Steve and Bucky blooming with every day, it was hard when the light of day came to stay neutral about it. Steve and his friends took their usual seats in English class and they all looked at the teacher in front of them with the same thoughts in their mind.

_You fucked Steve last night._

Bucky knew that they were all in the know, of course they were. They were Steve’s best friends and even though Steve would deny telling anybody, Bucky knew. And he wasn’t mad about that. If a person can’t tell their best friends about their significant other, then it shouldn’t be happening at all. He just wished Steve would be upfront with him about it. Yes, he knew that was a completely different situation that required a certain amount of discretion, but the correctly chosen friends could be trusted with anything and Bucky rather thought that Steve had assembled a very good group of friends with whom he could share anything. Bucky absently hoped that not _all_ of the details were discussed with his peers, but if Steve needed to get something off his chest, he should have somebody to go to about that. He made a note to talk about it with his… _boyfriend(?)_ when he next saw him. Which wouldn’t be too long given that the bell was about to go off in ten minutes or so.

He had given his students the final fifteen minutes of the class to start outlining their papers, lightening their homework load just a bit. It wasn’t selfless on Bucky’s part. He figured that the less work Steve had to do outside of classes, the more time he could be spending with Bucky at his place. It was a win-win for everyone. Okay, so maybe it wasn’t the most morally upstanding decision a teacher could make, but nobody was perfect. And Steve was Bucky’s weakness. If he could manoeuvre the situation to make life easier for the guy he liked, why wouldn’t he?

Bucky’s eyes widened as he thought that. Steve frowned at him, eyes flickering across the classroom. Bucky, for once, wasn’t looking at Steve. He was looking at Clint, who was smirking at him. Bucky had just fallen into the teacher-student trap. He had just implied, even in his passing thoughts, that he was going to bend the rules and the fucking curriculum to make Steve’s life easier and to make time for their relationship. Sure, the other students would benefit too, but he wasn’t even thinking about them for a second. It was all about Steve.

“What are you doing?” Steve hissed to Clint.

“Dude, you’re making it so fucking obvious. You’re basically stripping each other with your eyes. Try maybe not drawing pictures of him.”

Steve looked down at his paper which, funnily enough, did in fact play host to a picture of Bucky Barnes. Steve wasn’t in this one, it was just the teacher stood at his desk, back to the blackboard.

“It’s just hard to pretend to look at him the same way that everyone else does.”

“Like you haven’t seen him without his clothes on,” Tony filled in.

Steve rolled his eyes. “Thanks for that, but yeah you’re right. How can I just be the same way I was before? What we shared was intimate and beautiful and oh god he’s coming over act natural everyone.”

Steve stared down firmly at his paper where he had scribbled a few ideas down for the main body of his essay.

Bucky wandered over with a polite smile on his face. “How are we getting on over here?”

“Fine,” they chorused.

Tony smirked. “Actually, I need a little help with mine.”

Natasha scoffed. “No, he doesn’t. He’s just trying to cause trouble.”

“So the usual then? Barton, everything…okay?”

Clint refrained from chuckling. “Everything’s great, Mr. Barnes. I’m gonna _nail_ this paper.”

Bucky thought the attempt was clever, he really did. So he didn’t comment. “Well I’m glad you’re keeping _on top_ of your schoolwork for once. Keep it up.”

“I sure will, Mr. Barnes.”

As Bucky left he vaguely heard Steve’s sighing. His mind flicked back to the breathy moan he had elicited from Steve’s mouth the previous night. It took all he had not to shudder.

The bell rang and the students scrambled out of their chairs in order to leave the room.

“Don’t be too sad that class is over,” Bucky yelled above their noise. A few students laughed and had the grace to look ashamed but most of them were already gone. Steve lingered awkwardly.

“Guys, I’ll be there in a few minutes. I just need to…”

“We get it, Steve,” Natasha finished for him. “We’ll be by the lockers when you’re done.”

Steve’s friends shuffled out of the room, corralled by Natasha.

Steve dawdled up the desk and smiled. All of the tension that had been building in his chest had disappeared. “Hey.”

“Hey yourself. That was hard.”

Steve nodded. “I thought I could keep my composure but I ended up just drawing pictures of you, which is bad.”

“It’s probably best not to have actual evidence of our relationship lying around in my classroom.”

Bucky was suddenly overwhelmed with a fantasy: fucking Steve in the classroom. Maybe on his desk? He would make sure to bring it up with the man when they had settled into more of a routine.

“Do you want to do anything tonight? I can come by after dinner.”

Bucky beamed. “Actually, I was going to suggest that we go out for dinner.”

“Go out?” Steve echoed in disbelief. “You mean, where other people could see us?”

Bucky rolled his eyes. “Yes, Steve, we’re going to have a date in the parking lot at Walmart. No, I know this really great place about an hour outside of town. It’s very small, nobody in this town would even think of going there. We’ll be fine.”

Steve relaxed a little and nodded. “In that case, I’d love to go out with you.”

“Lovely! If you come by around 6:30, I can drive us out there.”

“Don’t you need a reservation?”

Bucky smirked. “I already made one, assuming you’d say yes.”

Steve chuckled. That was such a Bucky move. “Of course you did. But yes, I’ll be there.”

* * *

 

Steve didn’t count on how long it was going to take him to look presentable for his date. He had enlisted Natasha and Clint to help him get ready and pick something to wear. Natasha was there for an objective opinion on his entire look and Clint was there to help him pick an outfit for a date. Steve had never been on a proper date before and he had no idea what was acceptable and what wasn’t. He was sure that Bucky wouldn’t care, but he was supposed to be mature, wasn’t supposed to freak out about something as simple as a date.

Little did he know that across town, Bucky was doing the exact same thing. Pacing, putting on shirts and taking them off again, throwing them across the room. He had showered, shaved and he was on the verge of sweating nervously every time he thought about sitting across the table from Steve and going on a date. Not because he was scared of getting caught, he was sure that they would be fine, but he wanted to make a very good impression for Steve, who was expecting him to be the adult in their relationship, to know how to do these things. At the moment, though, he was having trouble trying to tie a tie. Or even decide if he should _wear_ a tie.

Steve was having the same dilemma.

“Because if I wear I tie, I’ll seem classy. If I don’t, I might be underdressed.”

Clint looked at him seriously. “Is it you, though?”

Natasha shook her head. “That’s not an accurate question. Steve’s ideal choice of dating attire would be a hoodie and sweatpants.”

Steve shrugged. “They make my butt look good.”

Clint nodded. “Yeah they do.”

Steve and Natasha both stared at him.

“I mean…you have a butt, Steve? Oh, I didn’t know. Never seen it before. I like boobs.” He threw another shirt at Steve, who quickly put it on.

Natasha appraised him before sending him over to the mirror. “How does this feel?”

Steve pulled it down slightly and turned to the side. “Yeah, I think this is good. It feels comfortable and it looks good. Doesn’t it Clint?”

Clint shrugged. “Dude, I can’t even see you right now.”

Steve chuckled and shook his head. “Right. Okay. I’m done.”

Natasha smirked. “Steve?”

“Yes?”

“You need pants.”

Steve glanced down and stupidly and groaned. His pair of tight American Eagle boxer briefs weren’t going to match the fancy attire he went with on the top half of his body. “Damn it.”

“Rogers, _relax_ ,” Clint enunciated. “Barnes obviously likes you, he’s risking his career just to date your sorry ass, calm your shit down.”

“Last time I checked, my ass wasn’t apologising. It was making him quite happy, actually,” Steve retorted wisely.

“Details, Steve, god damn,” Clint winced.

“Don’t pretend you’re not turned on by the idea of Mr. Barnes fucking Steve,” Natasha smirked.

Clint opened his mouth to argue but found no words.

“Thought so.”

Steve turned to her. “Could you find my black skinny jeans?”

Natasha rifled through Steve’s closet determinedly. “Wow, it wasn’t long ago that I’d have been able to find you in here, Rogers.”

Clint doubled over in laughter, Steve reluctantly grinning at the joke.

“I don’t know why you’re laughing, Barton, you’re practically the Emperor of Narnia.” Natasha handed Steve his jeans and ­­watched with a smirk as he struggled to get them on.

Natasha wasn’t going to pretend like she hated ogling Steve. He was seriously hot and even though he wasn’t interested in her that way (and was currently fucking their English teacher), it didn’t mean she could look. She figured that Clint was that way, too, possibly even questioning his sexuality, but the subtle prods that Tony gave him were too much.

Tony wouldn’t realise he was doing it, ever, and would amend his behaviour if pointed out, but he occasionally pressure Clint into seeming straighter than he actually was or more explicitly masculine than he was. Natasha wasn’t sure which.

When their group had assembled, he had wondered how she had become best friends with five of the most attractive guys she’d ever seen. And how the hell they didn’t objectify her every damn day. They were too nice to do that, she even objectified herself sometimes, just to make sure they weren’t as most guys at their school were. Comments had been made about their dynamic, suggesting that Natasha had assembled a harem and was sleeping with all of them but each of the boys thought it was just them.

When Steve had come out, the repulsive phrase “gay best friend” had been thrown around by some of the more mentally-backwards students at their school. Steve had argued his point to them many times in the hallways, but it had taken Natasha’s steely glare to shut them up (Thor had insisted it was his flexing biceps that had done it, but nobody was intimidated by the gentle giant that Thor was).

So of course Natasha noticed her boys physically. They were beautiful creatures and she would often wonder how she wasn’t actually sleeping with any of them. Steve was out of the question, obviously, but the rest were up for grabs. And she could definitely grab them.

She looked to Clint.

So why wasn’t she?

“Right, how do I look?”

Natasha was brought from her thoughts by Steve’s question. She appraised him objectively and nodded. “I’d do you.”

Steve turned to his other friend. “How ‘bout you, Clint? Would you do me?”

Clint mumbled something that rather sounded like “Probably”.

A satisfied smile spread across Steve’s face. “Okay. I’m ready.” With one last look in the mirror, he nodded. “Thanks for your help, guys.”

“You want us to leave?”

Steve shrugged. “I guess you can stay here if you really wanted. My mom wouldn’t mind, she loves you guys.”

Natasha sighed. “It’s fine. Clint, we’re leaving. I want waffles.”

Clint scrambled to his feet. “I love waffles.”

Steve rolled his eyes fondly as they crossed the room.

“Good luck, Steve. It’ll be fine, so no overthinking, okay?” Nat smiled.

“I promise,” he winked before Natasha left the room.

* * *

 

Forty minutes later, Steve was at Bucky’s door for the second time.

The door swung open and Steve gaped.

Bucky was dressed immaculately. A smart blazer, with a simple black button down underneath. He was wearing similar jeans to that of Steve and fancy black boots which glistened in the light. The man looked _good_.

“God, Bucky, you look amazing.”

“Hey to you too. So do you, by the way. But you always do, so there’s no surprises there.”

Steve was charmed.

“Did you want to come inside for a little while before we go?”

Steve checked his watch. “There might be traffic.”

Bucky nodded. “Right. Let’s go.”

They climbed into Bucky’s car and took off, speeding away out of town, where nobody would spot them and send one of them to jail.

Steve smirked as he flashed back to the last time they were in this car. “Do you remember the last time we were here?”

Bucky blinked. “Steve, it was a few days ago. Of course I remember our first kiss.”

“We were both significantly wetter that day.”

“Though not as wet as our next out-of-school meeting.”

Steve felt a shiver run up his body at the words and he prayed that he could make it through the next few hours without creating a sizeable wet spot in his nice underwear. With the way Bucky was biting his lip as he drove, Steve wasn’t sure he was going to last completely through the evening.

“What are you thinking about?”

Steve blushed. Did he really want to say it? “Just about how I was going to keep from creaming my pants when you’re looking like that.”

Bucky swore he almost crashed the car right then and there.

“Shit, Steve. I lose my mind when you talk like that.”

“I know, I know, it’s not a reciting of the _Canterbury Tales_ , but I figured you might make do with that kind of language.”

Bucky breathed heavily. “I’ll have my doctorate rescinded if you keep talking like that. I’m supposed to be steering you _towards_ the art of English, not towards being a sexual deviant.”

Steve drummed his fingers on Bucky’s thigh. “But, sir, I’ve never done anything wrong before in my life. _Please_ , don’t get me into trouble.”

Bucky gritted his teeth. “You little shit,” he moaned as a shiver shot straight through to his groin. “I don’t want to be rock hard while driving. No more of that or I’ll withhold sex for three weeks.”

Steve scoffed. “That would affect you just as much.”

“True. But let’s just get to the restaurant in one piece, yeah?”

Steve shrugged and went back to stressing, his momentary distraction fading away.

Steve wasn’t sure when they had arrived at the restaurant, but Bucky was right. It was very small. It probably seated around 30 people, if you squeezed people in. It was very obscure, he knew that they would never see anybody they knew there.

The menu was _expensive_ , to say the least. As Steve’s desperate proclamations of the price, Bucky simply waved him away with a “I wanted to treat you and I’m going to” response.

They talked about everything. Steve realised halfway through talking about his parents that he and Bucky didn’t actually know each other beyond literary quotes and flavoured lube. They discussed movies (Bucky loved black and white movies while shared his love of Stanley Kubrick), music (both were happy to listen to anything within reason), political stances (both quite happy being apolitical) and then literature finally rolled around just as the main course was being taken away from them.

“Okay, you have two spots left at a dinner party and you can invite two literary characters. Who are they?”

Bucky thought about Steve’s question but came up with his answer immediately. “Hermione Granger and Atticus Finch.”

Steve was both shocked and not shocked at Bucky’s response. “Interesting. Why them?”

“Well, when I host anything, I like having intellectual discussions rather than sitting, eating and talking about everyone’s vacations. I like thought-provoking conversation topics that are both insightful and informative. I feel as though both would have a lot to say about a lot of different areas of study. How about your party?”

“Holden Caulfield and Lady Macbeth.”

Bucky almost choked on his lemonade. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope.”

“Why?”

“Think about it. Holden Caulfield is a complainer. He’s smart, entitled and malleable. But he complains a lot. Lady Macbeth is strong, powerful and conniving. She wouldn’t tolerate his petty whining and he would help point out the flaws in whatever plan she’s concocting that day. It’s a win-win, plus entertainment value.”

Bucky shook his head. “You really love literature, don’t you? I can see it in your eyes when you talk about it. They…sparkle. You become animated, I’ve never seen someone so adorably flustered when arguing a point. Your thoughts come quicker than your words do and you get caught up in whatever tirade you’re going on.”

Steve smiled. “I never realised you observed me that closely.”

Bucky smirked. “Guess you weren’t paying attention to anything above the waist.”

“Shut it.”

“In all seriousness, nothing gets me hotter than when you shut down a classmate intellectually. Like the other day when you told Scott Lang that he was ignorant because he didn’t fully acknowledge Nora’s plight as a woman in a man’s world: fucking priceless.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “He was being sexist. But now that I know what gets you hot, you do realise I’m just going to use it against you.”

Bucky rubbed his hands together. “Well how about I initiate an hour long discussion about sex, all in the name of literature, of course. Maybe discussing the nature of attraction, lust and uncontrollable need to have someone and hold them. I can call on you a lot. I can wear _really_ thin shirts and _really_ skinny jeans. Or go commando. I’ll stand up the whole time and maybe bend over a few times. Won’t that be inconvenient?”

Steve put up a hand. “Okay, you got me.” The other hand was tapping his knee so that he didn’t get hard. “ _Sir_.”

Bucky felt dizzy at the word. He had thought about it the previous night and had got himself off furiously, pretending that he was punishing Steve for stepping out of line. “I think it’s time to go, don’t you?” Bucky slipped a few notes under the bill and added a large tip.

“Oh god, yes,” Steve groaned as they made their way to the car. “Thank you, Bucky.”

“I haven’t even touched you yet,” he chuckled.

“For tonight, I mean. The food was lovely, your company was even more so and you paid. So, thanks. I’ve had a wonderful evening.”

Bucky nodded his head in acceptance as they took their places in the car. “That’s alright. But it’s not over yet.”

Steve made a low throaty noise. “If I can last an hour in the car next to you without ripping your shirt off your back.”

“Don’t tempt me, boy. I have another rule for us. No sex while driving.”

Steve pouted. “Please, sir.”

“No, _Oliver_. I’m sorry. I don’t want to kill us. And if they found you leaning over me while my dick was out, there’d be questions. We’ll just have to wait.”

Steve folded his arms mockingly. “Fine.”

“We can tease, though. Get us ready for later.”

“Who says I’m going to be in the mood after all of this driving?”

Bucky smirked. “Oh you’re gonna be in the mood. Once I tell you that tonight, I want _you_ to fuck _me_.”

Steve gasped for air and clutched his seat tightly. “That’s nice,” he moaned.

Bucky just laughed, Steve telling him to quit the mocking.

* * *

 

Steve rolled over, waking up to his phone buzzing.

He was at Bucky’s, he knew that much. His mom thought he was sleeping at Clint’s, so he didn’t have to worry about that.

He groaned, seeing that Bucky was still fast asleep and checked his phone.

_Natasha: Hey, sorry if this is short notice, but do you think you could find another ride into school? I can’t do this morning! So sorry! xx_

Steve smiled. _No worries, Nat. I’ll just see you in Physics first period. xx_

He sent off another text to Clint. _Any chance you could swing by my place on your way to school? Nat can’t drive me today_

A few minutes later, he got his reply. _Sure man, I got u. Won’t it be odd if your mom sees me picking you up._

_Just park around the corner or something. I can just say you’re dropping me off because I forgot a book and then heading straight back out again._

_Okay cool! See you usual time?_

_Yeah, thanks Clint! I owe you one, buddy._

_Don’t sweat it._

“Anyone interesting?” Bucky rolled over sleepily, looking up at Steve, fluttering his eyelashes.

“Just my many suitors trying to steal me away from you.”

Bucky growled. “I bet none of them know Othello word for word.”

Steve patted Bucky’s head. “That’s just you, dear. It’s still early, you should get more sleep.”

Bucky sat on the edge of the bed. “Nah, it’s cool. I’m up. Want some coffee before you go?”

Steve admired Bucky’s ass as he stood up. “That’d be great, thanks.”

Bucky winced as he walked. “Damn, Rogers, you ripped me apart last night.”

“Don’t complain, you were literally begging me to go harder.”

“Whatever,” the older man replied, trudging downstairs butt naked.

Steve smirked and rolled out of bed, stark naked too.

He met Bucky in the kitchen, standing over the coffee pot, his morning wood standing at full attention.

“You know, I can take care of that.”

Bucky looked to his left and grinned. “So why aren’t you?”

And with that, Steve dropped to his knees and got to work.

* * *

 

School that day was a quiet affair. Natasha had been strangely silent all through Physics, only giving noncommittal responses. Steve made a note to question her afterwards.

“What’s going on with you?”

She looked to him as they walked in front of the other four. “Nothing.”

“Nat, we’ve been friends since we were like six. I _know_ you. Just like you know me. I know something’s wrong with you.”

Natasha smiled. “Nothing’s wrong. In fact, something’s right.”

“I don’t follow.”

She leaned in close, whispering in his ear. “Sam asked me out.”

Steve gaped. “Oh my god! Nat, that’s great! So why are you so sullen about it?”

“Well I said yes. But I have a weird feeling about it.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Just go with it. Your weird feelings come and go every so often. You’ve been crushing on this guy for so long now. He’s cute. Just go on a date with him and see how it goes.”

Natasha shook her head. “You’re right. I’m being the stupidest person on the planet right now. I’m going to go out on a date with Sam and it’s going to be great.”

When Steve looked back at the others, only three were left in his vision.

“Where’s Clint?”

Thor shrugged. “No clue. He mumbled something about football and walked the other way. Guess we’ll see him in English.”

Steve nodded as all thoughts of Clint were erased and all thoughts of Bucky’s English class entered his mind.

He breathed in deeply, regaining his pace with Natasha.

_It’s just a normal day, Stevie._


	8. Confessions

Natasha smiled, looking over at the boy opposite her with loving eyes. Her menu covered most of her face, but she let her eyes wander, allowing herself at least a semblance of normality when it came to standardised dating etiquette.

She had never done this, which came as a surprise to most people. Her obvious good looks and mostly agreeable personality made it common practice to crush on Natasha Romanoff, even if from afar. Which it usually was, considering her close circle of well-known boys who would be remiss to let someone into her life who wasn’t worthy of her.

It wasn’t exactly an anti-feminist thing. Natasha would always have her own say, the boys weren’t controlling her choices, they were just protective and knew the boys better than she did. Thor would have the greatest influence on her choices as being the one guy who frequented the most social circles. He was a jock who also excelled in academia and also went for the occasional cigarette between classes. Despite his outlandish build, height and blatant masculinity, Thor Odinson was the biggest gossip the school had to offer. Tony often thought it was him, but that was mostly his desire to be the best at everything he did.

The boys in the ‘Avengers’ loved her dearly, all seeing her as something of a sister they never had. It helped that none of them actually had sisters of their own, replacing that void with Natasha herself, who didn’t mind any of that. Natasha had no siblings, either, so the boys were like brothers to her. Her parents loved every one of them, though they had taken a particular shine to Clint and Steve, for reasons she knew not.

Her eyes flicked to her menu as she pretended to appraise it. Every time she came to this particular restaurant, either with her friends or her family, she would order the chicken salad. She had never done anything else in her life, so why was she pretending to be interested in the other selections?

Sam Wilson looked back at her, his eyes not as interested as hers. She could tell that he wasn’t as in this as she was, but that didn’t say much considering that Sam had been her crush for a long time now. It had surprisingly taken her a while to tell her friends about it. It wasn’t for fear of judgement, because they knew Sam and were friendly with him, without actually being friends. Thor knew him the most of all of them and he had said that Sam had seemed really excited about it. Though, save for perhaps Bruce, Thor was the nicest of the boys and Natasha wondered whether he was just saying that to make her feel better. Thor was both kind yet honest and often one of the two won out over the other. It was possible.

Sam drummed his fingers on the table. “You ready to order?”

Natasha shrugged casually, pushing down all of her emotions as she always did. “Yeah. Are you?”

“Sure.” He flagged down a waiter and nodded curtly at him as he ordered a medium rare steak.

“Chicken salad, please,” she said with a smile as he quickly scribbled down her order and walked away. “So, what do you want to talk about?”

Sam shrugged. “Up to you.”

“Well, we’ve been in the same classes since we were eight and I don’t really know that much about you. What music are you into?”

Sam met her eyes for a brief second before glancing at his phone. “I don’t know, everything I guess.”

“Movies?”

“Whatever’s on.”

Natasha clenched her jaw. He had seemed at least partially enthusiastic when he had asked her out at school just a few days prior to their date. What had changed? Natasha had gotten outfit approval from her parents, Steve and Tony, who all said that Sam wasn’t going to be able to take his eyes off her. She rather thought she looked good. So why all the moodiness?

“I gotta go the bathroom,” Sam told her casually.

“Sure.”

As he left, Natasha’s eyes flickered to his phone, which had been buzzing all night. The screen lit up once more with another message. Natasha didn’t want to pry, but she could read upside down.

_Having fun without me? I bet Romanoff doesn’t even let you see her naked tonight. ;)_

Natasha suddenly hated her skill for being able to read upside down. Not everything was clear to her immediately, but she knew the score.

Sam approached the table, smiling though his eyes were bored. Natasha fixed her lips into a snarl and glared at him. Sam checked his phone and saw the message. He checked Natasha’s expression. He frowned.

“You went through my phone?”

Natasha shrugged. “No. I can just read upside down. One glance and I knew, I didn’t mean to read your messages. Although I’m glad I did. Because it appears I’ve been wasting my time with tonight. And so have you.”

“Nat.”

“What do you want me to say, Sam? That I don’t care that you’re using me to make your actual girlfriend jealous? That we can just eat and have a good time? No, absolutely not.”

Sam put his hand out onto the table. “That’s not what’s happening here.”

“It sure seems like it. And I don’t think you’re going to have a valid explanation for anything tonight, so I’m going to wait for my chicken salad and I’m going to get it to go so I don’t have to waste any more of my time on you. Someone who clearly doesn’t appreciate what they could have.”

“I can’t believe how seriously you’re taking this.”

“When I go on a date with someone, Sam, I expect them to actually be interested. This is a _date_. _You_ asked _me_ out. If anything should be taking this seriously, it’s you. But that’s not happening, so it’s best if I leave. Enjoy your steak.” Natasha slapped down a few bills on the table and headed for the counter to inquire about her food.

Sam let out a chuckle, but didn’t stop ogling her ass as she walked away.

* * *

 

“I’m sorry if you guys had plans.”

Natasha lay on her bed, all five of her boys somehow arranged in a formation where they could all fit. It was a very large bed, but they were very large boys.

Someone, she thought it might have been Bruce, was stroking her hair in tender rhythms that might have made her want to fall asleep if she wasn’t so angry.

“Are you kidding? Of course we were going to be here,” Steve replied kindly.

Natasha sat up, gaping at him. “You had plans with Bucky didn’t you?”

Steve waved a hand. “Not important. You come first, Nat. You know that.”

That touched her. Steve was so willing to sacrifice spending time with his new boyfriend to make sure she was okay.

“Besides, none of the rest of these dorks had any plans tonight,” Steve added.

They all chuckled, Tony trying to protest that in fact he did have plans, but nobody was going to believe him.

Natasha poked at her chicken salad lazily and sighed. “Boys are dumb.”

Thor nodded. “Agreed. I mean, we have to be them but you and Steve have to _date_ them. That’s gotta be a raw deal.”

“It’s just...I thought he liked me.”

Natasha would usually be very reticent to drop her guard, but she was with her boys in the sanctuary of her own home. If there was any place she could do that, it was here with them. She rather liked that, well as much as she liked exposing her deepest emotions, which was just gross anyway.

“He’s such a jerk,” Clint piped up from the end of the bed. The others nodded.

“You know we have to do something about this, right?” Tony raised an eyebrow at everyone.

“Guys...” Natasha began, but she knew it was moot. “Never mind.”

“Nat, when someone hurts one of our own, we don’t just let it slide. Like the time that Danny Rand made a homophobic comment to Steve. We shut him down, because we can’t let people hurt us. None of us. In any way. So we gotta go to school on Monday and let him know that he can’t get away with shit like this.”

“Eloquently phrased, Tony, but you’re right,” Bruce agreed.

Steve shrugged. “I wonder how much Bucky can drop his English scores without it being noticeable.”

Natasha stared at him with cold eyes. “Don’t do that. You’re risking what you have Bucky. We can find another way.”

“So you’re in?” Steve smirked.

“Not fair,” she retorted. “But yes, I’m in.”

“Time to get plotting, I guess,” Clint said with a snarl.

The six stayed up most of the night, debating about what was the best course of action. They had a few ideas, but nothing that would really teach Sam the lesson that he deserved. They would think of something, eventually, though. They always did. Danny Rand ended up transferring schools due to not being able to handle their scheming.

* * *

 

The next day, they made sure to arrive at school together and in fashion. When this happened, everybody knew that they meant business.

Natasha would walk in the middle as she always did, hips swinging from side to side, eyes darting around the hallways, looking anyone who dared to look back dead in the eye.

Clint and Tony were on either side of her. They were the shortest, but also the most feared of the boys. Everyone figured that Thor, Steve and Bruce were too nice to get angry at them, but Clint and Tony were scrappy and smart-mouthed.

Steve and Bruce took the flanks. They were generally well-liked, but also had major influence in academic and social circles. They would keep everyone out of the way while they did business.

Thor brought up the rear. He was the biggest and strongest, but also universally adored by pretty much everyone. He could keep the peace if he needed to, but he could cause some trouble if the situation required it.

They walked through the hallways like it was a runway. Like it was induced with slow-motion effects and everyone else was caught up by the blizzard of their reputation. People looked, no, _stared_ at them with a mixture of intrigue and fear sparkling in their eyes.

Nobody really knew what to make of this new spectacle...except for Sam Wilson.

He knew that he had fucked up and he wasn’t going to deny the punishment that he knew was coming for him.

He stopped dead as he saw the six saunter towards him, eyes finding him easily. They stayed like that as they walked past him, their struts staying in complete harmony as they did. It was rather scary, actually.

As if from nowhere, Clint broke out from the formation, fists balled as he barrelled into Sam with great force.

The formation dispersed, Steve and Thor rushing towards Clint to try and pull him off Sam.

Sam fell against the wall, a punch landing against his eye. He shoved Clint away from him and threw his own punch back. It landed, but with little effect.

Clint laughed, grimaced and pushed his arm against Sam’s throat. Sam coughed and spluttered as Clint applied more force.

“You had better apologise to her,” Clint growled.

Sam found it inside himself somewhere to laugh before regaining use of his arms and ripping Clint’s away, pulling his arm back for a punch.

He let his fist fly, connecting with Clint’s nose.

Only it wasn’t Clint.

Steve had stumbled into the middle of them, trying to pull Clint away.

Steve’s nose cracked painfully. He flicked his eyes up to meet Sam’s, darkness swirling within them.

“What’s going on here?” The sound of Bucky Barnes’ teacher voice greeted them.

Several students dissipated to their next class, but the Avengers plus Sam stayed still. Sam figured that he would be in more trouble if he ran away. He didn’t need any more suspensions.

Steve lazily wiped the blood from his nose and sighed. Bruce wordlessly handed him a tissue.

“Are you okay, Steve?” Bucky’s eyebrows furrowed with concern.

Steve nodded, blood spreading quickly across the tissue.

“Let’s get you to the nurse’s office,” Bucky nodded, placing a hand on Steve’s shoulder.

As they turned the corner, Steve looked to his boyfriend.

“What the hell was that?”

“What?”

“That! You just ask me if I’m okay and ignore everybody else? That’s not exactly being subtle.”

“You were the one bleeding. It made sense to check on you. Speaking of, what actually happened?”

“Wasn’t my fight. Sam...did something and Clint lashed out. I was trying to pull Clint off him and got hit with a stray punch.”

Bucky’s eyes darkened. “Looks like someone’s getting a month of detention.”

Steve gaped. “Bucky...”

“What?”

“You can’t. Because then you’d have to give it to Clint too. And me for getting involved. And besides, we don’t need anybody thinking anything they don’t need to be.”

“You’re right. I wasn’t thinking properly. I just saw you bleeding and...you know. I was worried about you.”

“I’m fine,” Steve assured. “Just gonna wait for the bleeding to stop. Don’t you have a class?”

Bucky smirked. “Want to get rid of me?”

“Yes.”

“I do have a class actually, but I’ll see you before lunch. Take care of yourself, Steve.”

Steve nodded. “See you in class. Mr. Barnes...”

Bucky shivered and swatted Steve’s shoulder gently. “Dick.”

Steve winked from behind his hand as he entered the nurse’s office.

“Steve!”

Steve turned as he saw Clint running up to him.

“God man, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for you to get hurt, I just...lost it. I saw him and I couldn’t hold out.”

“Wanna sit with me during study hall?”

Clint smiled. “I’d like that. But I gotta say in advance, I can’t do for you what Bucky was probably gonna do.”

Steve pouted. “But Clint...I was looking forward to it.”

“Is that so?”

Steve winked quickly. “Yeah. But I think we’ve both got people who would stop us from doing it.”

Clint frowned. “I’m not following.”

“Okay, correct me if I’m wrong here. Do you...have feelings...for Nat?”

Clint’s lips parted but no sound came out.

“Clint?”

“I don’t know. I know there’s something there, but I don’t know. I haven’t really figured anything out. What made you say that?”

Steve shrugged. “I was thinking about it last night, but it made sense when you attacked Sam. We’re all protective of her, but you’ve found reasons to leave the conversation whenever she brings up Sam.”

Clint’s face reddens. “I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything. I just wondered. If you do, I really think you should talk to her, but only when you’ve figured stuff out.”

“You think I should?”

“Definitely. Nat prefers honesty over almost anything else in the world. You’re better off being straight with her.”

“I guess that’s something you have trouble doing,” Clint chuckled.

Steve rolled his eyes. “Simian.”

“But I’ll...think about it. I just don’t want it to backfire. You think the others know?”

“Nah, nobody’s as perceptive as me.”

“Good. This isn’t something I want to be teased about just yet.”

“Oh, there will come a day, Clint.”

Clint nodded. “Thanks, Steve. Seriously. You’re the best friend a guy could have.”

Steve charmed by the words as Clint wrapped his arms around him.

“Uh...I think I got blood on you, man,” Steve blurted.

Clint pulled back. “No big. I’ll just say it’s Sam’s.”

Steve laughed. “You’re ridiculous. Now go do the Bio homework we both know you didn’t do.”

“Yes, mom.”

Steve pulled the tissue away from his nose, aiming at Clint’s head.

“I’m going, I’m going. See ya, Steve.”

“Later, Clint.”

Steve sighed as Clint left the room, lying back on the nurse’s bed. It had been an eventful day and it wasn’t even lunch yet.

God only knew how the rest of the day was going to go.


End file.
